Africa has recorded 15,000 more COVID-19 cases in the last 12 days the World Health Organisation (WHO) report on the regions COVID-19 cases has said.

“Since our last situation report on 6 May 2020 (External Situation Report 10), an additional 15,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases (a 42% increase) were reported from 42 countries, compared to 10, 577 recorded the previous week,” the report stated.

During this period, a sharp rise in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases was observed in eight countries - Benin 221% (102 to 327), Zambia 217% (139 to 441), South Sudan 200% (58 to 174), Guinea-Bissau 181% (292 to 820), Gabon 117% (397 to 863), Chad 110% (170 to 357), Central African Republic 90% (94 to 179) and Ghana 89% (2 719 to 4 127).

Meanwhile, five countries, Namibia, Seychelles, Eritrea, Mauritania and Mauritius have reported zero new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 37, 35, 23 and 15 days, respectively.

From 6 to 12 May 2020, 295 new deaths (25% increase) were reported from 25 countries in the region, including: Nigeria (60), South Africa (58), Algeria (45), Chad (23), Cameroon (17), Democratic Republic of the Congo (16), Kenya (13), Niger (9), Sierra Leone (9), Mali (8), Senegal (8), Ghana (4), Burkina Faso (3), Côte d'Ivoire (3), United Republic of Tanzania (3), Gabon (3), Zambia (3), Togo (2), Equatorial Guinea (2), Congo (1), Guinea (1), Ethiopia (1), Sao Tome and Principe (1), Guinea-Bissau (1) and Eswatini (1).

As of 12 May 2020, a cumulative total of 47,953 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 55 probable cases and 1,488 deaths (case fatality ratio (CFR) 3.1%) have been reported across the 47 affected countries in the region.

From 6 to 12 May 2020, the region recorded its highest daily case count since the beginning of the outbreak, with more than 1000 new cases reported each day in the past 14 days. The region observed its highest peak on 8 May 2020 when 2 753 cases were registered in 24 hours.

Of the 47 affected countries, nine have registered a cumulative total of more than 1000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including South Africa (11 350), Algeria (6 067), Ghana (5 127), Nigeria (4 787), Cameroon (2 689), Guinea (2 298), Senegal (1 995) Côte d’Ivoire (1 857) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (1 169).

Democratic Republic of the Congo is the latest country to cross the 1000 cases mark. South Africa hit the 10,000 mark in this same week. Together, these eight most affected countries account for 87% of all reported cases in the region.

The highest case load has been observed in the West African region, 43% (20,611, CFR 2.1%), followed by the Southern region 24% (11 575, CFR 1.8%), the North 8.5% (6 067, CFR 8.5%), Central 13% (6 377, CFR 3.9%) and Eastern regions 7% (3 323, CFR 2.6%).

Of the 47,953 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported, 15,388 (35%) cases have recovered, documented from 45 countries in the region, with 100% (16) of cases in Namibia recorded as recovered.

Algeria has reported the highest mortality in the region, with 515 deaths, followed by South Africa with 206, Nigeria (158), Cameroon (125), Burkina Faso (51) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (50).

The highest case fatality ratios were observed in Chad (11.2%), Liberia (9.4%), Algeria (8.5%), Burkina Faso (6.7%), Sierra Leone (5.9%), Niger (5.5%), Mali (5.5%) and Togo (5.5%). Algeria alone accounted for 35% of all COVID-19 deaths reported in the region.

Notably, a critical group of people, health workers, have been greatly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, with 1,598 health workers being infected in 31 counties in the region since the beginning of the outbreak.

Two countries, Guinea-Bissau and Malawi, recorded their first health worker infections this week.

Overall, Nigeria has been the most affected, with 401 health workers infected, followed by South Africa with 325, Niger 167, Côte d’Ivoire (85), Democratic Republic of the Congo (63), Ghana (63), Senegal (59), Gabon (57), Chad (44), Guinea-Bissau (43) and Liberia (42).